On December 13, Ripple was trading at $2.4, marking a price level that was 28% above its weekly low and slightly lower than its yearly high of $2.90.

Daily charts show that Ripple has formed a bullish pattern from which it could make a strong comeback. Ripple forms the bull flag formation, which is characterized by a long vertical line and a rectangle-like formation.

This formation usually signals a strong reversal and a large price increase may occur upon completion of XRP’s formation. The flag formation started to form in October and ended in November. However, the flag part continued to form as of December 2.

Most financial assets tend to experience a strong reversal once the flag formation completes. In the case of XRP, this reversal will be completed when the price crosses the downward channel.

XRP also formed a hammer formation on December 10. The bottom of this formation was located at $1.9690, which corresponds to 38.2% of the Fibonacci Retracement levels. The hammer pattern has a long lower shadow and a small body and is considered a strong bullish reversal pattern.

Ripple also appears to be involved in the corrective wave of Elliot wave theory. This wave comes after the previous momentum wave and it is observed that Ripple continues to remain in this corrective wave.

XRP price remains above the 50-day and 100-day Exponential Moving Averages. This shows that XRP has the potential to rise further.

Breaking the $2.90 level, which is the upper part of the flag formation, will further strengthen the bullish view. While the psychological level to be followed next is $3, $5 levels can also be set as a target.

There are also several catalysts that could increase the price of XRP. First, there are strong signs that XRP whales are hoarding tokens. According to CryptoQuant data, whale activity has reached an all-time high. This shows that large investors are interested in XRP.

Additionally, Ripple Labs received approval from New York regulators to launch the RLUSD stablecoin. Developers state that the launch of the stablecoin is imminent. This launch may create excitement among investors, but its success remains to be seen.

Another important development is that XRP Ledger is starting to be adopted by more developers. Data shows that there is over $63.5 million in assets in the network and this amount will continue to grow.

However, Ripple may be on its way to having an ETF, in line with Donald Trump’s promises that he will be a crypto-friendly president. This development may cause the price of XRP to increase further.

All these factors may cause the XRP price to continue rising in the near term. A breakout of the price above $2.90 could mark the beginning of a period of strong price gains for Ripple, bringing the $3 and $5 targets to the fore.